Saturday, November 17, 2012

One year ago this week, we boarded a swank Virgin Australia airplane and set off for America, softly closing the door on four and a half years, of all things Aussie.

It seems like a lifetime ago that we spent long, leisurely afternoons at Nielsen Park (Sydney) walking up and down the beach, jumping in the crashing waves, digging our toes into the super soft, fine white sand, and all the while avoiding deadly entanglement in the scary looking shark net; they don't call it Shark Bay for nothing :).

Walking through the fig trees at Nielsen Park...

And collecting sea glass...

This is sea glass from our secret beach in Sydney, sitting in an abalone shell given to us by our tour guide in Tasmania.

We often remember our favorite (or favourite) places like Oporto, home of the best chicken sandwich in Australia :).

Before our Aussie departure, they happened to have special cans of Coke with Aussie words on them. I could not have asked for better Aussie blogging material.

And then, one fateful day, we came home from school pick up and it was finitely clear, our time in Australia was coming to an end.

Apparently someone was a baaaad puppy. But that was that, the message was loud and clear. It was time to return to America.

And in the last twelve months, my children have attended four schools, in two countries, and three states (one Australian, and two American).

Now my kids wear this to school...

As many of you know, first we spent four months in Florida.

And
Florida was pretty much a lot of this... and have I mentioned it's
about as hot as hell on a sunny day there. Ugh, I hate hot.

And we've always been a house filled with music, mostly our own. Our
seven year old has been writing music for a couple of years, and in
lieu of a birthday party this year, we went to a real recording
studio in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where thanks to a Groupon type thingy
forwarded to me by my BFF The Fiery Redhead, for the low low price of
$75, he was able to record three of his original songs professionally.
It. Was. Amazing!! Our favorite song "Rock n' Roll" is very catchy,
or, as our guitar teacher says, "He really understands, it's all about "the hook"."
This video is actually more audio than video, but clearly this child
needs to be on itunes, available for all the world to hear. :)

And
we soon moved to San Francisco, where the weather is gorgeously sunny
and cool and gorgeous, ALL THE TIME (except this week, but surely that's
just a fluke). And as the months in America rolled by, the boys got
bigger, and louder, and hungrier, and blonder... assumingly, that part was helped very much by lack of the
Aussie "No Hat, No Play" rule, and the California sun.

And our dogs have gotten bigger, and fluffier.

And some things aren't all that different from Australia to America...

And though Australia seems so long ago now, especially I can imagine
even more so for the kids, my seven year old is still "going for the World Record" for
most consecutive days of taking a Vegemite and Cheese sandwich to
school. He's been at this (not exaggerating here) for over three
years. Seriously, should I be calling The Guiness Book" at some point
here??? If you know, please advise. :)

And our new city looks like this...

And this...

That's actually my mom and sister next to the cable car florist stand :). Yes, the best bonus of moving to San Francisco was that my sister lives here!

And have I mentioned that my sister is funny? And she is especially, crazy hilarious when she rides Ruby the Labradoodle around my kitchen like a pony. Good times, good times.

And we somehow squeezed (though I want to say "squoze") in a trip to Alaska this past summer.

We cruised with our cousins who came in from Portland, Maine-- and what they, and our children, did not know... was that my in-laws (their grandparents) were joining us for the cruise! So when Grandma and Grandpa from Boca Raton, FL (the crankiest place on earth, no offense Boca-ites:) showed up at the Welcome Aboard Buffet-- well let's just say, it was total shock and awe.

I've been to Alaska several times, and it never gets old. It's a beautiful place.

And of course, it's not a cruise without a talent show. I can't help but show off, because my eight year old taught himself to play this on the piano while singing, and I love it.

And, my now seven and nine year old boys are in a rock band that plays Weezer and The Beatles and The Ramones and The Sonics. Impressed yet?

And we were lucky enough to go to a World Series game! It was so so awesome, well except for the two dudes spitting and drooling sunflower seed shells out of their mouths next to us, non-stop the entire game, I kind of vomit a little in my mouth every time I revisit that in my head, and I pity the people who put their stuff down in that spot next game. But I digress... obviously, going to the World Series was amazing, despite the spitting chaos.

My kids are absolute Giants fanatics, and that is like my husband's dream, for real.

The flag on the field at AT&T Park.

And finally, after living here for seven months, we finally went to see The Golden Gate Bridge-- just this past weekend. Yes, I am aware that that sounds ridiculous. But here it is, tall and gorgeous, in all its International Orange glory...

Not surprisingly, so many people I have met here, are from here. And they don't plan on going anywhere... hence what is believed to be the inspiration for this sculpture on The Embarcadero, by the bay, symbolizing the famous, "I've Left My Heart in San Francisco".

20 comments:

how can you always make me cry at every single post. this one was a great one. i love the recap. what a really incredible year laura. so glad you're here. oh and ps: the barbers = not interchangeable. the one here is WAY cuter. you don't see that?

I just watched the video of your little boy singing at the music studio. He is VERY talented. I wouldn't be surprised to see him on Ellen or the X factor or something along those lines. You have some incredible kids.

Wow Laura, hard to believe its been a year. Glad to know that repatriation for you all is going well. That is something we fear when we move back to the US. But, it's hard to match some of those Aussie experiences anywhere. We are soooo missing those lovely, leisurely Aussie breakfasts, Oportos (or anything grilled in good quality!) and amazing coffees in the sun.Hope the next year for you is just as amazing! Nikki

Hi! Got a hold of your blog from Google. I am a Florida girl as well looking to move to Sydney. Would you mind answering some questions for me? Shoot me an email at my spam account xjulesxo@aim.com, once I get your email I'll email you with my real account so everyone doesn't have my email. I'd greatly appreciate it!

OMG! the adele song!!!!!!!! AMAZEBALLS! You have some super talented kids there!I don't know how i didn't find this post earlier, but im so glad i did... its great to have an update on your lives and holy moly those boys are sure growing up.

GUESS WHAT!? I'm coming to America!!! In June to work at a summer camp for three months and then to travel for a month - im super duper excited!! Any travel advice? or must sees?? :) xx

So nice to stumbled upon your blog. I am a Los Angeles girl in Sydney. Now. Right now. And oh boy is it nice. So nice we don't know if we should stay or go. I'll have to read more of your journey to see how you made your decisions. And where you got that labradoodle! Super. Duper. Cute.

About Me

I'm an American Expat with two adorable boys and a smart, sensible husband who bungee jumped once in the 80's and showed me the video to prove it.
Our family is living in Sydney, Australia for the second time. I currently drive on the left side of the road, wear winter clothes in June, and say "no worries".

Why am I here?

This blog is to chronicle my life abroad as an expat mom with small children.

It's easy to think that moving to Australia would not cause complete culture shock (being that we speak the same language for the most part), but in reality, it's not that simple.

I'm hopeful that at the end of this journey I will refer back to this blog and appreciate everything we've experienced and ultimately survived.

Update June 2014: We have just moved back to Sydney after spending 2.5 years in San Francisco. This is much easier the second time around because my kids already love Vegemite and I speak fluent Aussie.